Lions on a roll with three big wins

by Marianne Gasaway

The Lions picked up three big wins last week, pushing their record to 13-4 overall.   Senior Carson Toebe led the Lions in each game and broke the school’s career scoring record in the process.  

CL 73, W-SR 40

The Lions broke open a tight game in the early going and rolled to a 73-40 non-conference victory over Waverly-Shell Rock Tuesday night, Feb. 1.

After leading by one through one quarter, the Lions outscored the Go-Hawks 22-10 for a 34-21 halftime lead. The continued to dominate in the second half, outscoring the visitor by 10 in each period.

“We have been having some trouble getting momentum after halftime -- this time we were able to come out strong and build our lead even more and in the fourth were able to cruise to a 33 point win,” said Head Coach Jeremey Ainley.   

Carson Toebe connected on 50 percent of his shots and led the Lions with 25-points, six rebounds and five assists.

Thomas Meyer and Cael Stephany were also in double digits with 14 and 10-points respectively.  Jagger Schmitt didn’t miss a shot, sinking a pair of three-pointers and a field goal for eight-points.  Joe Faber and Jett Neuberger had seven apiece and Travaughn Luyobya finished with two-points.  

“Thomas gave us a low post presence and scored 14 points and I was really pleased with the contributions from Joe, Jagger and Cael off the bench, as well as Jett,” said Ainley.  “We made 11 threes, which was a great stat for us.  We are a good shooting team, we  just need to trust ourselves and shoot with confidence.  Defensively I was very pleased with us chasing them off the three-point line -- something they want to do and guard at a high level.  

“They are always a quality opponent, so we knew this would be a great test to see where we are at,” said Coach Jeremey Ainley.  “It was a great team win and something to continue to build on.”

CL 53, GHV 51

The Lions jumped out to an early lead, then hung on in a tense second half for a 53-51 win.

Clear Lake was playing at a high level in the second quarter and built the lead to 30-19  before the Cardinals came storming back.

“We were moving and sharing the ball well in the first half -- something we preach a lot in our program and it shows with our high assist numbers and relatively low turnover numbers lately,” said Coach Ainley.  “In the second half I thought we lost our defensive focus and allowed them way too many opportunities to drive the basket.”

GHV cut the lead down to two, but the Lions were able to execute down the stretch to maintain a lead and made some big free throws down the stretch to preserve a two-point win.  

Carson Toebe had a nice night with 22-points and continues to play at an All-State type level, said the coach.  

Thomas Meyer had a steady night with 10 points. Travaughn Luyobya and Dylan Litzel each put in eight- points and Joe Faber had five points.  

“Travaughn didn’t have a huge impact scoring, but continues to distribute the ball at a high level with nine assists and only one turnover,” noted the coach.  “Dylan Litzel had a nice game off the bench with eight huge points and two big free throws down the stretch.  It was a nice win overall -- certainly some things we need to continue to work on defensively but wins are never easy.  They have to be earned each night.”

CL 76, St. Ed’s 48

Clear Lake’s Carson Toebe set a new school career scoring record and helped to lead the Lions over St. Edmond, 76-48, Friday night, Feb. 5.

“We came out a little tight,” said Coach Ainley. “Carson was one-point from breaking the school record for points in a career and I thought he was a little tight and was pressing a little bit.”

Travaughn Luyobya was able to settle Toebe and the team down with four three-pointers in the first quarter to put the Lions ahead, 16-15.  

In the second quarter Toebe hit a turnaround post move to break the record and the flood gates opened.  

“He started hitting shots; we started to score in the paint; our guys started defending at a high level and we started to get rolling to take a 39-23 lead at the half,” said Coach Ainley.

Great looks at the basket continued in the second half and the Lions open the  In the second half we continued to keep getting great looks at the basket and opened the game up to cruise to a sizeable win.

Toebe finished with 22 points and Luyobya finished with 16 points and  seven assists.

Thomas Meyer had a nice game with 12 points and eight rebounds.  Cael Stephany continued to give the team a spark off the bench with 13 points.  Tucker Jones contributed six-points and played some great defense, according to his coach.  

“Overall, it was a really nice team win and again

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congrats to Carson Toebe breaking the scoring record that was held by Zach Lester,” said Coach Ainley.

Lester amassed 1,354 points in his CLHS basketball career.  Toebe’s total is 1,375 and counting.

“I am really proud to have coached two phenomenal ball players.  A scoring record that has stood since the 90’s has now been broken twice in four years.  Just goes back to the talent that we have coming thru the high school in the last five, six, seven years,” added Ainley.

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